Sergey Shishkarev met the leaders of the Saudi Arabian Handball Federation
On Tuesday, January 30, Riyadh hosted a working meeting of the Vice-President of the Russian Olympic Committee, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Russian Handball Federation Sergey Shishkarev with the leaders of the Saudi Handball Federation.
The head of Russian handball was received in the office of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee by the Executive Director of the Federation Mustafa Kamal Alshehabia, and the President of the Federation Fadel Ali Al-Nemer, who is on a visit to Egypt, took part in the conversation remotely.
The leaders exchanged opinions on topical issues of cooperation in sports in general and handball in particular. Among other things, they considered the possibility of friendly games with the participation of national teams of the two countries. Also, Sergey Shishkarev discussed cooperation in scientific and methodological support, coaching, issues of friendly games between children’s teams, youth national teams of Russia and Saudi Arabia with his colleagues.
“Now, when Russian national teams and clubs do not have an opportunity to participate in official international competitions, we try to find new ways to support and develop both our teams and the Handball Federation in general. The Asian direction in this regard is one of the priorities for us. I would like to remind you that in early January, the Iranian men’s national team came to Moscow and won the second place at the Friendship Cup. Undoubtedly, this event diversified the composition of the participants of the international tournament and made it more attractive. The visit to Saudi Arabia also provided a basis for new formats of cooperation. We are considering the possibility of fixing them in the Memorandum of Cooperation between the handball federations of the two countries. Today, handball in Saudi Arabia is developing rapidly. The local federation has set a task – to increase the number of professional athletes, to bring the national teams to a new level. Recently, club World Cup matches have been held here. The fact that Saudi Arabia is bidding to host the 2029 or 2031 World Men’s Handball Championship speaks volumes. We see great potential for the development of constructive relations between our countries, not only in handball, but also in many other sports”, – said the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Federal Handball Association Sergey Shishkarev.